Germany's Merkel closing her personal Facebook page

German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives for a military welcome ceremony for Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian prior to a meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Feb. 1, 2019. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel is leaving Facebook after giving up the leadership of her country's main center-right party.

Merkel made the announcement in a video Friday on her Facebook page, which has more than 2.5 million likes. She said she was closing the personal page because she no longer leads the Christian Democratic Union party. Ally Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer took over that post in December.

Merkel invited followers to "continue following my work as chancellor" via her government's Facebook page and her "Bundeskanzlerin" (chancellor) feed on Instagram.

The 64-year-old Merkel has led Germany since 2005. She doesn't tweet, although spokesman Steffen Seibert does.

Asked in 2015 what she thought of Facebook, Merkel replied: "It's nice that we have it. It's nice like having a car or a decent washing machine."